Sony`s 8 Mm.: Breakthrough Or Marketing Smokescreen?

June 07, 1985|By Hans Fantel. New York Times News Service.

Nobody can tell for sure whether Sony has opened the doors of the future or a can of worms. When the company declared in April its intention to produce video equipment in the controversial 8 mm. format, reaction in the trade was hopeful surprise mixed with instant skepticism. Who, it was asked with a fair degree of unanimity, needs a third video format incompatible not just with VHS but also with Sony`s own Beta?

There was speculation among industry insiders about Sony`s motive. Some felt that the move was prompted not so much by technical reasons as by marketing strategy. It is no secret that Sony`s Beta format has been steadily losing ground to the rival VHS. In some areas--notably Japan and Southeast Asia--Beta and VHS run neck and neck, but on a worldwide basis, Beta scarcely commands a quarter of the total market. That this decline has taken place despite the technical advantages of Beta--especially the clearer picture obtainable at the slower and more economical tape speeds--is proof that marketing clout often outweighs engineering considerations in achieving success for consumer goods.

As the foremost technical innovator in home electronics and as a company with a proud history and a powerful presence, Sony is naturally restive at the trailing edge of anything--especially in a field the company had created single-handedly a decade ago with the introduction of the Betamax, the first home video recorder. The new 8 mm. venture may simply be Sony`s way of upsetting established applecarts in hopes of rearranging the balance. If the new format proves successful, Sony will presumably climb to the top of this particular heap.

Against this hopeful scenario weighs the public apathy shown toward the 8 mm. format when it was first launched by Kodak about a year ago. At that time, too, Kodak`s move was perceived mainly as a marketing ploy. With video cassettes rapidly replacing film as the preferred medium for home movies, Kodak apparently felt that--with film sales slipping--it needed a foothold in the burgeoning video industry. Not wanting to enter the market as a late-comer within the existing framework of Beta and VHS, Kodak struck out in new directions by licensing the 8 mm. format from its Japanese developers. Yet, despite an intensive advertising campaign, the new medium fell flat.

Public indifference was attributed to the lack of pre-recorded cassettes in the new format. Without being able to go down to the video store and rent a movie for the weekend, few customers were enticed. Besides, the picture quality of the 8 mm. equipment initially shown was not as good as Beta or VHS. Sony has ready answers to all this and appears confident that, within half a decade or thereabouts, 8 mm. video will emerge as the dominant format of the future. Several arguments bolster this belief.

As for picture quality, demonstrations of the new Sony equipment left no doubt that the initial flaws of the 8 mm. medium had been overcome. In clarity of image, detail and truthfulness of color rendition, the new format proved itself equal to Beta in side-by-side comparisons. These improvements may be credited to the development of new recording heads optimized for the format, as well as new metal-particle tapes able to pack more information into a given area of tape surface. The latter is particularly important in a format whose video cassettes are hardly bigger than ordinary audio cassettes.

Radical miniaturization of this sort is the crux of this development, giving it merit and legitimacy quite aside from its incidental role as a manipulative lever in the market. At a time when all video design aspires to smallness and lightness, Beta and VHS equipment--both using bulky cassettes with half-inch tape--are approaching their limits of possible miniaturization. If further reduction in the weight and size of video gear is to be attained, a new and inherently more compact tape format would be required, and the 8 mm. cassettes open up possibilities in this direction.

Fittingly, Sony`s first product in the new format is a camera-recorder combination--an item where lightness and smallness count as primary virtues. Weighing just 5 pounds, the Model CCD-8 ``camcorder`` is a truly agile tool for making one`s own videos, yielding pictures of uncommon sharpness (300 lines of horizontal resolution). It features an electronic viewfinder for instant playback, minimal power consumption of 6.6 watts for long battery life, and sells for $1,695. Cassettes are interchangeable with 8 mm. video equipment now produced by Kodak and Polaroid.